Dr. Jack L. Arnold Equipping Pastors International
GODÕS SOVEREIGNTY AND
MISSIONS
Acts 16:6-10
Whatever else you hear in this message, I want you
to hear this one thing: God has not abandoned this world. He is doing a mighty work and we need
to be aware of that work. GodÕs
Spirit is moving in this world as never before in history and we need to be
thinking and moving with the Spirit of God, asking God what significant place
we have in the plan for the world.
Rest assured, God is still adding to the church those He wants saved. (Acts 2:47b: ÒAnd the Lord added
to their number daily those who were being saved.Ó).
We need to get a perspective of GodÕs sovereignty in
world missions. We need to
understand that GodÕs plan for this world is right on schedule and when the
last elect person is saved, then Christ will return to this earth.
Most of us can see the sovereign hand of God in our
lives individually. Why were you
born? Why were you born to certain
parents and of a certain race? Why
were you born in a certain country?
All of these were done to you in GodÕs sovereignty and you had no
choice.
The next question is why have you heard the gospel
of Christ when billions have never heard it? Why are you a Christian when billions reject the
gospel? You say, ÒI believed in
Christ.Ó But why did you
believe? Ultimately you must trace
the cause of your salvation back to God, who is sovereign, saving whom He
pleases, when He pleases and where He pleases.
What is true of individuals is also true of
nations. God has sovereign control
over the countries of the world (Dan. 4:35 ÒAll the peoples of
the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the
earth. No one can hold back
his hand or say to him: ÔWhat have you done?ÕÓ). God seems to work more strongly in certain countries at
different times in history just because He is God, carrying out His plan for
this world.
Acts 16:6-10 is probably the strongest passage in
scripture showing how God deals with nations as well as individuals. It is impossible to understand this
passage unless you are unreservedly committed to the total sovereignty of God
in every facet of life.
Acts 16:6 ÒPaul and his
companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been
kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.Ó
Paul and his missionary team of Luke, Silas and
Timothy fully intended to preach the gospel in Asia Minor and in the great
cultural and political center of the city of Ephesus, but the Holy Spirit
stopped them.
How the Holy Spirit stopped them, we are not
told. Perhaps there was a vision,
or a dream. Maybe there was
persecution. Most likely they had
a deep inner leading of the Spirit that this was not GodÕs timing to reach Asia
Minor. We do know that Paul and
others later did go to Asia Minor with the gospel, but it was not GodÕs will to
go there then.
There were millions of lost Gentiles in Asia Minor
and Paul and his team had the gospel, which alone could save them. Why didnÕt God send them there? I donÕt know, except to say it was not
GodÕs will at the time. It was
GodÕs will for Paul to go to Europe with the truth of Jesus Christ.
Acts 16:7 ÒWhen they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to
Bithynia, but the Spirit
of Jesus would not allow them to.Ó
The missionaries had been forbidden to go south to
Asia Minor, and so they logically looked now to the north, to Bithynia, which
is modern-day Turkey, but again they were stopped.
Notice that Paul was not rebuked because he tried to
go to Bithynia, but the Spirit simply said no. It was not the SpiritÕs timing to go to these
people. Surely this indicates that
Paul had no peace about going south or north and he came from the east. This left only the west and it was
either cross over into Europe or go home.
Yet, Paul did not assume that this was where God wanted them and he did
not presume on the sovereignty of God.
He continued to pray and moved westward, not knowing the clear will of
God, but moving out in obedience.
If we could have interviewed Paul at that time, we
might have asked, ÒPaul, where are you going?Ó And his reply would have been, ÒI donÕt know but I am moving
forward on what understanding I have.Ó
Paul knew God was leading him but he didnÕt know where. He waited on God, probably in deep
prayer, while moving westward waiting for further directions. God would give Paul clear direction
when he needed it but not a moment before.
Many a Session, missions committee or missions board
today probably would not have accepted the Apostle Paul because he did not have
clear leading, even though he was certain of his call.
David Livingstone, the great explorer and Christian
missionary to Africa, wrote in one magnificent sentence what should be the
desire of us all: ÒI will go
anywhere—provided it be forward.Ó
There is a great theological question which should
arise in the mind of the careful reader of this passage. Why did the Holy Spirit forbid Paul to
speak the gospel in Asia Minor and Bithynia? Was it that the Europeans were more worthy than the
Asians? No, for all men are guilty
sinners before a holy God. Was it
that God knew the Europeans would believe and the Bithynians would not, so He
sent the Gospel where it would bear the most fruit? No, because GodÕs foreknowledge of events is always based on
His plan. Why then? We donÕt know
except that it was GodÕs purpose and the Holy Spirit has a master plan of
evangelism, and He brings the gospel to individuals, nations and continents
according to His sovereign timetable.
Acts 16:8 ÒSo they passed
by Mysia and went down to Troas.Ó
Still not knowing the will of God, Paul moved further westward in
faith, probably scratching his head about GodÕs specific leading, even though
he never doubted God was in control or his call to preach the gospel to the
Gentiles.
Acts 16:9 ÒDuring the
night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ÔCome
over to Macedonia and help us.ÕÓ
At the precise moment in GodÕs plan, God gave Paul
clear direction as to the will of God for him and his missionary team. Paul saw a vision. He received the Macedonian Call to
preach to Europe—to Greece, the cultural center of the world and then
ultimately to Rome, the political center of the world.
Acts 16:10 ÒAfter Paul had
seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that
God had called us to preach the gospel to them.Ó
This call—long after Paul was dead and with
the Lord—would make it possible for others to take the gospel to all of
Europe. If your ancestry is
European, as mine is, we need to realize our ancestors were filthy, dirty
heathen who worshipped idols, but the gospel of Christ and its effects upon
culture changed all that. It took
hundreds of years of gospel influence, but the European nations were
changed. We of European background
should be so thankful God sent the message of the gospel westward to the
European nations.
God has always dealt with nations from the beginning
of the church (Acts 1:8 ÒBut you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.Ó)
The gospel went to Jerusalem, Judea and
Samaria. It then spread out to
nations around the Mediterranean, so that in one time in history Alexandria in
North Africa was the hub of Christian activity. These nations were given gospel opportunity, but in time
turned from it. The gospel then
went to European nations: France,
Germany, Italy, Switzerland and many others. For centuries they had gospel opportunity and turned from it,
so that today the gospel influence is minimal in Western Europe. The gospel then spread to England and
that nation became a powerhouse for Christ and the modern missionary movement. England had gospel opportunity and
turned from it, so that today less than 5% of Britain is Christian. There are more Muslims in England today
than Baptists. Some of this is due
to immigration but it shows that Baptists are going backward in England as well
as all denominations.
The gospel then came to
North America, namely America and Canada.
America became the hub of Christian activity. In 1977, it was estimated that 40% of America claimed to
have received Christ as Savior. We
now know these numbers are declining rapidly as our nation becomes more secular
and materialistic.
About 92% of Americans believe in some kind of a God
but very few claim to be born again and have a personal relationship with
Christ. In America, the basic
religion is New Age philosophy, which puts forth a God who accepts all
religions, and most all people are going to heaven if they live good
lives. The religion of America is
relativistic, pluralistic and syncretistic and it is rapidly becoming
anti-Christian and Anti-Christ. By
relativistic, we mean that there are no absolutes, and if no absolutes, then
there is no God, for God is the ultimate absolute. By pluralistic, we mean that we accept and tolerate all
religions as equal, except Christianity that says Christ is the only way. By syncretistic, we mean that
Christianity is being mixed with other religions such as Eastern
mysticism. A good example of how
New Age thinking is mixed with Christianity is the popular T.V. program
ÒTouched By An Angel.Ó The name of
Christ is never mentioned. They
say people can go to heaven by believing in God – any god. They teach that all people are
basically good. There is a hell
called Òthe other placeÓ but only totally bad people like Hitler and Stalin go
there. The challenge for American
Christians is not to fall into the trap of relativism, pluralism and
syncretism, and to reach a culture that no longer has a clue about the
gospel. We must reach people
across the street as well as around the world.
Gospel opportunity has come to the nation of America
and we are turning from it. Only a
mighty revival will turn this country from spiritual disaster. Our country has not seen true revival
in one hundred years, but God can bring revival to America. It is our only hope.
Because of missionary efforts from England and
especially from America, the gospel has spread around the world. God has multiple millions of Christians
in the nations of Africa. In fact,
the hub of Christianity may once again shift away from North America to
Africa. They estimate that about 7
million people per year are coming to Christ in Africa. God is also powerfully moving in the
nations of South America. It is
estimated that about 9 million people are coming to Christ each year. The church in Africa, Asia and South
America are also losing multiple thousands because of lack of trained
leadereship. Most of the
evangelism is being done by the Pentecostals. God is getting ready to reach the nations of Asia primarily
through South Korea, which is probably the most Christian nation on earth. Koreans are training thousands of missionaries
to go into China, Japan and Southeast Asia, when God completely opens the doors
to these nations. The third world
is now sending more missionaries to other countries than all the western world
of England, Canada and America.
In China today, apart from missionaries, there are
at least 50 million Christians.
Some say 75 million. Gospel
opportunity is coming to these Third World nations but will they spurn it
also? The last great block of
people to be reached are the Muslim nations and even now there is some
break-through with individual Muslims.
However, God has not yet opened the door to the Muslim nations, which
have 850,000,000 people in them, most of who have never heard the gospel of
Christ. Will God send gospel
opportunity to these Muslim nations?
I believe He will and when it happens, GodÕs people somewhere in this
world will be ready to be missionaries to these people.
You may be thinking, ÒHow is God going to bring the
gospel to the Muslim nations? They
are not only non-Christians, they are anti-Christian!Ó I donÕt know how, but God will do
something. Whoever dreamed that
the Communist nations of the world (Russia, East Germany and Eastern Europe),
comprising over 500,000,000 people, who were anti-Christian to the core, would
fling their doors wide open to the gospel, so that today Russia and especially
the Ukraine are asking for Christians to come and teach Christian values in
their public schools? Surely God
is giving gospel opportunity to Russia and the Eastern European nations.
A few years ago (1989), we all were glued to the TV
screen as we saw the Berlin Wall torn apart piece by piece. Someday, we will stand in amazement and
watch the Muslim countries open their doors to Christian missionaries. They may not be American missionaries
but they will be from some country in the world which is taking full advantage
of the gospel opportunity God is giving them.
The day of the white, American missionary dominating
world missions is probably over.
Africans, Asians and Latinos will be the new missionary force. My personal conviction is that the
African Christians will be the instruments God uses to reach the Muslim world
for Christ. But God still has a
key place for America in world evangelism. For the next 15 to 25 years, the primary role of American
Christians will be to provide financial resources and leadership training to
the developing nations until they can get on their feet.
While there will always be a need for every kind of
missionary, the future in modern missions will be to train leaders and
pastors. Wherever I go, the
nationals tell me, ÒDonÕt send us any more American missionaries to plant
churches in our countries. We can plant
our own churches. Please send us
missionaries who can train and equip our leadership so they in turn can teach
their churches how to evangelize and establish churches.
God is sovereignly, powerfully and supernaturally at
work in this world as never before in the history of mankind. Whenever God chooses to work, He works
through people. God will use
Christians to get His work done on this earth. He gives you and me the privilege of praying for the lost in
the world, to give our monies to further the gospel of Christ in the world and
to reach as many people in the world as we can by telling them the good news of
salvation in Christ.
A true Christian is a world-Christian and is
interested in seeing individuals and nations all over the world come to
Christ. To know Christ is to have
a vision for the lost world. Any
church that is not missionary minded will die.
Count Zinzendorf, the Lutheran friend of the
Moravian Brethren, said it well:
ÒThat land is henceforth my country which most needs the gospel.Ó If nationalistic pride in any way keeps
us from being world-Christians, then we must kill our pride and see a world
desperately in need of Christ, a world which will perish for all eternity in
hell without a Savior.
The massive population explosion of our day seems to
make the task of world evangelism impossible. There are now 6 billion people plus on planet earth. In any given 24-hour period, the United
Nations tells us there is a net gain of 178,000 in world population. That means that every week a city the
size of Denver, Colorado springs up.
How can we keep up? How can
we do this task of reaching the whole world? We canÕt! God
can! We must be faithful to pray,
to witness, to give of our resources to world evangelization one step at a
time, one task at a time, one person at a time. Be faithful where you are and God will expand your
horizons. Tell people across the
street about Christ, and you will begin to get a vision for people around the
world. Christ has commanded us to
go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person (Mark 16:15 ÒHe
said to them, ÔGo into all the world
and preach the good news to all creation.ÕÓ)
If He commanded, surely He will grant the grace to
do it. Will you be obedient to
your Lord, King, Master and Supreme Commander? It will cost you something to be true to the Great
Commission. The spiritual kingdom
is realized through blood, sweat and tears.
Dr. Wilder, a dynamic
missionary leader in India, was dining with three British naval officers. During the course of the conversation
one of the officers remarked, ÒWhy donÕt these missionaries stay at home and
mind their own business?Ó
Dr. Wilder replied, ÒSuppose
you were ordered to take your battleship to Constantinople tomorrow, would you
choose whether to obey or not?Ó
The officers retorted, ÒIf
we are ordered to go, we must go, even if every ship is sunk and every sailor
killed.Ó
ÒQuite right,Ó said the
missionary. ÒI have orders from
the divine government: ÔGo and
preach the gospel to every creature.ÕÓ
Any individual Christian and any local church which
is not missionary minded—witnessing at home and making efforts to see
that the gospel gets to the world—will die spiritually. What kills missionary zeal?
1.
When we love money more than Christ.
2.
When we want comfort more than spiritual warfare.
3.
When we believe that all men are not sinful and are not headed for
eternal judgment.
4.
When we think God will not judge those who have never heard the gospel.
5.
When we think the death of Christ is not sufficient to save all the
world.
6.
When we are committed to having the clergy do the evangelization of the
world.
You cannot be a
well-balanced Christian and not be a world-Christian. To be a Christian is to
have a heart for the good news of ChristÕs salvation spread around the
world. To be a Christian is to be
committed to world evangelism at home and abroad in obedience to the Great
Commission: ÒAnd repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nationsÓ (Luke 24:47).
It is my conviction that the second coming of Christ
is somehow connected to reaching the nations for Christ. Christ said in Matthew 24:14: ÒAnd
the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
the nations, and then the end will come.Ó
This whole message on ÒGodÕs Sovereignty and
MissionsÓ can be summed up in a statement made by William Carey, the father of
modern missions:
ÒWhen I left England, my
hope of IndiaÕs conversion was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles, it
would die, unless upheld by God.
Well, I have God, and His Word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand
times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times
worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed
on the sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every
trial. GodÕs cause will triumph.Ó
GodÕs
cause will triumph!
GodÕs
cause will triumph!
GodÕs
cause will triumph!